Wallpaper remover



Feb. 11, 1936.

E. A. SCHAEFFER. JR

WALLPAPER REMOVER Filed Feb.

a INVENTOR.

. j I BY 0 9* ATTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a Wall paper remover of the type in which a steam pan is employed .for preliminarily moistening and softening the paper preparatory to removal,

: the, invention particularly relating "to the steam jetxused in a device. of this character.

An object of the present invention is to provi'de'ran improved jet for a device of the character described which will utilize the advantages oifered by the use .of high pressure steam.

In the steam pan shown in the accompanying drawing, the loosening. effect :is first improved by a corrected location of the jet, and further improved by the manner in which the jet is formed to take full. advantage of the proper location as corrected; still further, the jet is improved to utilize to the fullest extent the opportunity to employ steam of much higher pressure than was heretofore available. The boilers m furnishing the steam for this work are small, portable boilers of a capacity of not much more than two gallons of water and in the: older boilers, which were fired by a liquid fuel such as gasoline, the pressure was limited to thirty pounds per square inch because of the two hazards .of pressure and more or less open flame. In the newer boilers for which the present pan and its improved jet were especially designed, a pressure of approximately ninety pounds per square inch is permitted. due to the elimination of the hazard of fire, as the new boilers are electrically heated.

N ogreatamount of dependence is placed on the high pressure steam for more saturation, since saturation is only the natural penetration of the as fibres of the paper by the hot water of condensation and the action is notspeeded up to any great extent by pressure. 'The great advantage afforded by the combination of the improved jet in the corrected location coupled with the use of the 48 high pressure steam is found in the removal of an accumulation of several thicknesses of paper such 'as is often met with in rooms that have-been repapered many times. a portion of the steam is caused to impinge di- 45 rectly on the paper at the high velocity brought about by the high pressure whereby a puncture is made through the several layers, the steam flowing through the puncture and expanding between the wall and the adjacent paper to form a 50 blister. In the meantime, other orifices of the improved jet are directing steam to a plurality of points on the surface of the paper adjacent the edges or periphery of the blister to thereby prepare the surface for a succeeding puncture 5'5 on another positioning of the pan.

With the improved jet,

It can be seen that, compared "with "the old method, theoperationof loosening an accumulation of paper as described is almost as many times faster by the use of high pressure steam as there are-layers of paper, since there is in 5 reality :but one layer of paste holding the accumulation to the wall, and this paste layer is the one which receives the effect or the puncturing flowof steam. The labor of scraping is also reduced 'to'aeminimum, as very often the accmu- 10 latcd-paper falls from the wall by its own weight.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is aperspectiveaear'view of astea-m pan having an improved jet at the corrected location in the pan. 15

Fig. :2 is a fragmentary enlarged elevation of the pan, looking toward the open side which is placed :against the wall.

Fig. 3 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in vertical :section, the sectional portion 20 being taken :on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

4 a fragmentary enlarged section on the line 4-4of Fig. 2, showing in detail the construction of the improved jet.

Fig. 15 is .a-"fragmentary view, a portion of which 25 is 'partly'in elevation and partly in section similar to Fig. 4, showing axsupplemental jet used in connection with the improved jet.

Referring to the drawing, the improved jet is indicated in general :at l, "and as can be seen in 3 Figs. 1,2 :and 3, is positioned in the approximate central portion of the shallowpan 2 which otherwise follows a W811 known construction, in that it is closed by the rear end 'II and the sides [5 but is open at its forward end. The jet I is formed -of hexagon 'bar stock, and a portion of its length is left in the original dimensions whereby a base 3 is provided on which a wrench may be placed. Extending'axially from the base 3 is .a reduced diameter "cylindrical extension 4 40 which is exteriorly threaded at its extremity for a purpose which appears later.

The orifice which provides the puncturing flow is indicated at 5 (Figs. 4 and 5). This orifice is a comparatively small bore at the end :of the extension 4 and is axially arranged with respect to the bore in the jet l, and its diameter, and those of other orifices which will be described, are computed with the idea of steam conservation, and, especiallyreferring to the orifice 5, that the desired velocity will be attained. Steam is fed to the orifice '5 from an enlarged diameter feeding bore'B, and to the bore B from the larger interiorly threaded bore '1, into which 'is threaded the forward end 8? of the curved conduit 8 threaded-at its outer end into the valve 9, the support for the valve being effected by the clamping effect of'the jet l and a jam nut II] also threaded on the end 8 of the conduit 8 which passes through a central opening in the rear end ll of the pan 2.

. The valve 9 is of ordinary construction and is automatically opened when the operator places the open end of the pan against the wall, there being provided a pin I 2 which projects laterally from the valve handle l3 and extending through an elongated opening [4 in the end I l of the pan beyond the wall contacting sides I5Iof the pan;

When the pan is removed from the wall, the valve proper 9' is closed by a spring 9" and when the pan is placed against the wal1,'-- the rearward movement of the pin l2 opens the valve. A flexible hose l1 carries steam under pressure to the valve from a boiler (not shown).

It will be noticed that the orifice 5 is short,

and as is well known, a restriction to a flow, if suitably short, does not impede the fiow or reduce the volume of 'fiowjand does increase thevelocity. By design, this high velocity effectis retained as much as possible, and-since the end of the jet is within, say, one-quarter inch of the paper,

and since there "is somesoftening of the paper due to -condensation at the region where the puncturing *fiow, represented at 5', Fig. 4, by

dash lines, is impinging on the paper, the high 7 pressure easilymakes the small perforation needed, and the steam following forces the paper from the wall to form the blisterbprevi'ous'ly mentioned. a

In order to bring about a surface saturation in addition to puncturing the paper, other orifices are provided which also communicate with the feeding bore 6. In the present case, four such surface saturatingorifices' indicated at l8 are provided, andthe diameter of the orifices I8 is restricted so that ample penetrating power will be retained in'the puncturing flow issuing from the orifice 5. These orifices l 8 are radially disposed when viewed in one plane,'and the jet 7 is so placed as seen in Fig. 2 that the fiowsissuing therefrom reach the farcorners of the pan; In another plane as shown in Figsfil and 5, the

orifices 18 stand at a slight angle withthe axis of the jet so that the flows strike the surface of the paper, it being clear that due to'the angle of the flows as shown by the long dash lines l9, that such will be the case. The reference character 19 is also used in Fig. 2 to indicate the direction of the saturating flows from the orifices l8. Thus it is seen that'the major portion of; this steam condenses on the paper, rather than on the puncturing effect of the orifice 5 would be 7 reduced, if notlost entirely. The surface saturating orifices l8 are useful in softening paper when thereare but one or two thicknesses on the wall, and also in preparing the outer surface for puncturing when there is the accumulation of many layers as was previously mentioned, since in use the operator moves the pan from place to placeon the wall.

2,030,720 "1 fi'I [1-11 For use in softening paper behind radiators, an accessory is employed which is in the nature of an extended tube to bring a jet adjacent the paper. This member is shown in Fig. 5, and is a tube 20 having secured at one end a coupling2l, and in the present case, a single orifice jet 22,

secured at its other end. In use, this member is threaded on the exterior thread on the cylindrical extension 4 of the jet I, and being made sufiiciently long, .the operator is able to reach the paper to the rear of the radiator by inserting the tube between'the radiator sections, controlling 1 the flow'of steam by manually opening and closing of the valve. Since there is noneed of'steam from the surface saturating orifices l8 of the jet I at this time, these orifices are closed by the coupling 2| being screwed down over them, all thesteamthen being, used flowing from .the small orifice 23 in the extension jet 22.

'It can then be seen that in the present inven tion advantage is taken of 'placingthe jet inthe center of the pan whereby the side or surface" saturating orifices are approximately equally spaced from the edges or corners of the pan, and r that flows from such orifices are of approximately equal length; that by providing that the surface saturating orifices are at the slight angle noted with relation to the longitudinal axis of the jet that the steam is directed to thepaper where the saturation due to condensation is effective to soften the paper, which is not true of the steam that condenses on the pan; and the labor of removing the heavy accumulations of paper is re-[ duced by the perforating'effect of the main orifice;

The lower side of the pan has 'atrough 24 to receive the water condensed from the steam,'and an operators handle 25 .on a tubular member 26 which is connected to the rear end of the pan, furnishes the means for manipulating the de-. vice; this tubular member being further connected to the pan by the strap 21.

Having thus described my invention, I'claim:

1. In a wall paper remover, the combination of a pan open at one end, a steam jet carried by said pan and having an axially arranged orifice and a plurality of lateral orifices, and a connection for supplying steam under pressure to said jet 2. In a'wall paper remover, the combination an; r

of a pan open at one end, 'a steam jet centrally 60.

positioned on the closed end of said pan and having an axially-arranged orifice and a plurality of lateral orifices, and a connection for supplying steam under pressure to said jet.

3. In a wall paper remover, the combination 65,.

of a pan having one rear end member and four straight sides, saidpan being open at its forward end, a steam jet carried by said pan having an axially-arranged orifice and a plurality of lateral orifices, said lateral orifices being arranged 6,0

to direct steam toward the corners of said pan, and a connection for supplying steam under pressure to said jet.

4. In a wall paper removenthe combination of a pan open at one end, a steam jet, a connection for supplying steam to said jetextending through the closed end of said pan, said jet being threaded upon said connection and located in said pan so as to be readily removable from said pan, said jet having an axially arranged orifice, and a plurality of lateral orifices.

5. In a wallpaper remover, the combination of a pan open at one end, a steam jet carried by said pan and having an axially arranged orifice and a plurality of lateral orifices, a connection for end, a steam jet carried by said pan having an axially-arranged orifice and a plurality of lateral orifices, said lateral orifices being arranged to direct steam toward the corners of said pan, and

a connection for supplying steam under pressure to said jet, said lateral orifices being arranged to direct steam toward the open end of the pan.

ETHAN A. SCHAEFFER, JR. 

